The center will work towards developing cutting-edge solutions that will help MSMEs adopt Artificial Intelligence (AI) along with digitisation to drive operational efficiency and profitability.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Suresh Kumar, Global CTO and CDO, Walmart Inc. said, “As a people-led, tech-powered organisation, we believe in using technology to serve people—and not the other way round. The Walmart Center for Tech Excellence reiterates our commitment to communities and purpose to help people live better. As an IITM alumnus, I am especially proud of our ongoing partnership. I’m both excited and confident about the potential of our center to drive innovation in AI and make a positive impact in the MSME community in India.”
The three main goals of the centre are:
- Developing an open source platform which will provide AI and IoT technology freely to MSME.
- With MSME, each one of them have unique problems. To develop a platform that is domain agnostic is a huge task. By the next three years, the centre aims to work with MSME and solve their case studies. The centre aims to implement these technologies in in about 10-15 MSMEs by next three years.
- Skilling – A manufacturing analytics programme which aims at skilling MSME employees.
Addressing the launch event, Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras said, “The growth of MSMEs is very crucial for economic prosperity. IIT Madras has initiated many projects in this direction including the one that helps MSMEs in reducing energy consumption. The research carried out through the Walmart Center will be of immense value to the MSMEs.”
Suresh Kumar, Global CTO and CDO, Walmart Inc
Dr V Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras on the IIT Madras and Walmart Centre of Excellence for MSME
